Censorship not part of this newspaper’s vocabulary!

One of the qualities that separate the Las Vegas Tribune from other
publications is not that the newspaper may not be independently
wealthy, but that the freedom of expression applies to anyone and the
word “censorship” does not exist in the higher-ups’ vocabulary,
regardless of what the issue or the topic may be.
The publication does not have the luxury of having one employee for
each page, and everyone wears many different hats because everyone in
every department — editorial, news, electronic/technical support —
puts out more than 100 percent of their intelligence and energy to put
out the information that the public may want to see in print.
Anyone that accuses the newspaper of censuring any comment or letters
to the editor may not be fully aware of what the words ethics, freedom
of speech, rights and Constitution mean, not only to the founder and
others in managerial positions, but to everyone that is part of the
Las Vegas Tribune family.
Anyone who believes that the newspaper censures articles or comments
that are written in good taste and worded in a fashion or style that
can be read in a family forum just because the editor or anyone else
does not agree with the content, does not know the newspaper’s history
or has never written a letter to the editor to other publications in
Las Vegas.
Other publications have in their editorial rooms lists marked Do and
Don’t, with names of people the reporters can write things about,
further refined as to indicate the writing must reflect something good
or bad, or that certain issues or individuals are to be ignored.
Years back, the Mesquite Tribune, a sister publication of the Las
Vegas Tribune, had an editor, Ken Ward, that came from a Las Vegas
daily, and while waiting in a courthouse hallway he proposed to write
a story about the censorship and the lack of professionalism in other
media groups in the community that claim to be what they are not.
The publisher of the Las Vegas Tribune at the time, who is also the
founder, declined the idea and turned down the proposition, but hired
Ward to be the editor of the Mesquite Tribune. Later, Ward carefully
did not use the Mesquite Tribune as a reference on his resume.
Last week was a three-day holiday in honor of Presidents Day, and the
office of the Las Vegas Tribune was closed; the newspaper budget does
not cover overtime or holiday pay like the wealthy “only newspaper in
town” does, and when some of the work got behind, some people took it
to mean that the newspaper was censuring their comments on the
website. But according to a spokesperson for the Las Vegas Tribune,
“Nothing is further from the truth,” and the person who complained was
contacted immediately to clarify the misunderstanding.
The newspaper also contacted the subject of the commentary in the
Political Analysis that was published in the February 12 issue of the
Las Vegas Tribune, but efforts to contact Detective Gordon Martines,
the author of such Political Analysis, were unsuccessful — maybe
because it was during his work hours and he is not allowed to talk
politics then, or maybe it was because of the holiday.
However, going back to the article and reading it again, Martines
wrote that “One of the very first things that I always do when I meet
a political individual or political group is to identify myself as a
law enforcement officer.”
“Las Vegas is lucky to have individuals like Detective Gordon
Martines; we are lucky to have Martines as one of us,” stated a police
officer in a patrol car that for obvious reasons cannot reveal his
name.
“Some people keep their job hidden to entrap citizens that otherwise
would not talk in front of a law enforcement agent,” the officer
explained.
Those who, after realizing that the person they are talking to is a
law enforcement officer, keep talking about their private business or
personal recreational habits are risking bringing trouble on
themselves or just don’t have much respect for the law enforcement
officer in front of them.
In his Political Analysis, Martines brought to the attention of the
Las Vegas Tribune readers that “Over the years, information gathered
from these political meetings — which attract both law-abiding
civil-minded citizens and, unfortunately, criminals as well — has
resulted in the following initiated criminal investigations,
prosecutions, and convictions,” and he goes on to name those
incidents.
“Martines is very clear on his position and people should appreciate
that from a sheriff candidate and expect the same position from any
other law enforcement officers — instead of being surprised as if it
were entrapment — since they are just using the information that such
individuals voluntarily spit out after knowing they were speaking with
a law enforcement officer or agent,” explained Rolando Larraz, who is
the Las Vegas Tribune founder and a long-time friend of the sheriff
candidate.

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